Communications Strategies For World Bank- and IMF-Watchers

Released in 2002, this 25-page report details the results of a study of communication within the community of civil society organisations watching the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The main objective of the study was to review how these "IFI-watchers" use information and communication technology (ICT), and to investigate how ICT can be adapted to improve collaboration between NGOs and specialists. The study started from the assumption that improved co-operation and communication among IFI-watchers will serve to further the goals they have in common: poverty reduction, social justice, and sustainable development. Effective use of ICTs would be expected to help build and retain new audiences interested in the work of these NGOs.

The report is based on a review of websites and e-mail lists produced by IFI-watching NGOs, as well as interviews and questionnaires with active network hubs and with recipients of NGO information. The study recommends basic improvements to existing usage of the web and e-mail, and proposes the establishment of a web ring and consideration of more advanced systems of information pooling. In addition to a detailing of the study's main conclusions, the report contains a list of electronic newsletters/listserves in this area, as well as case studies of successful and less-than-successful approaches to collaborative information management.

The report was commissioned by the Bretton Woods Project with a grant from the C.S. Mott Foudation. It was carried out by Ethical Media Ltd.
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